After an exhausting flight from Calgary, Joanna Majcherkiewicz and yours truly arrived in Santiago, Chile. We weregreeted at the airport by our travel companions for the next 3 weeks: guide Mark Lassetter, pro Rossignol skier Hugo Harrison , and photographer/snowboarder Magali Roy.

With enough gear to make the Rolling Stones jealous, our crew loaded everything into a passenger van and were immediately wisked away to Valle Nevado. Valle Nevado is located in the Andes mountains (2.5 hours from Santiago) and is accessed by a road that literally takes your breath away. As you climb past steep canyons, fields of cacti, and an occassional llama, the road grows more steep and narrow, until you reach a shear wall of countless switchbacks and finally our hotel perched on a rock spine at 10,000 feet. There must be well over 100 switchbacks and you spend at least an hour going back and forth as the vehicle crawls slowy up the cliffs. At one point I had to ask the driver to stop because I started dry heaving in the back seat. Good times.

Finally getting settled into our 5 star hotel (compliments of Valle Nevado), we began doing what we came here to do...shooting a story. We are going to report on each resort, starting with Valle Nevado, moving on to Portillo, Chile and finishing up with Las Lenas, Argentina. Las Lenas is still up in the air due to the fact they may be closing early (lack of snow).

Along with our resort stories, we will also be covering various events/activities taking place during our 3 week stay (halfpipe comps, parties, heli skiing, etc). At least weŽll still have some great stuff to shoot if the famous Santa Rosa snowstorm doesnŽt hit the mountains while weŽre here. Santa Rosa is an annual storm that hits the Andes Mountains almost like clock work each August. WeŽre still waiting patiently, checking the forescast each day. Last night I talked with Colin Puskas, heŽs been hanging in Chapelco (south of Las Lenas) and says they just got 2-3 feet of new snow....so there is hope. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for snow.

The resort of Valle Nevado has been great to the Ride Guide crew, providing us with endless terrain, deluxe accommodation, a killer hot tub, superb vistas and fine dining that ranges from the local Chilean fare to French cuisine. The food....ooooohhhhhh the food!Amazing, but our personal weight situations are growing worse by the day:) Well worth the sacrifice though.

Even though snow levels havenŽt been up to their usual standards, weŽve still been getting some great stories and footage for the show. We had a great day of heli skiing yesterday and the snow at 13,000 feet was quite good (talk about an amazing helicopter ride). Also, for those of you in the know, I got to sit down with one of the best in the ski world....Mr. Seth Morrison. We had a good chat yesterday and I rolled the camera as he expressed his thoughts on Valle Nevado, crazy South American roads, and his upcoming movie. He is currently at Valle Nevado with cinematographer Tom Erickson filmming for a new Oakley movie that is being coproduced with Heavy Hitting films. YouŽll be able to check it out this fall.

Right now our crew is enjoying a day off in Santiago shopping, checking out the sites, and enjoying a few cervecas). Tomorrow weŽll be heading up to Portillo, where weŽll continue the Ride Guide tour of South America. It should be another action packed week, with images of pro skiers/boarders and Singles Week shinanigans passing through the lens of our camera. Stayed tuned to Global this winter to check it all out.

IŽll keep you posted,

Mike Benedek